


A New Persona

by Anonymous



Category: Original Work, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Multi, Original Character(s), The Velvet Room (Persona Series), original - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24229510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: A new story with new locations, new characters, and new adventures. A group of college students learn of the world of personas and shadows. Will they be able to be the heroes of a new age? only time will tell.
Relationships: Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13
Collections: Persona 5, Persona 5 Fanfics





	1. A New Life Comes Knocking

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Crimson](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11310144) by [Dowdz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dowdz/pseuds/Dowdz). 



I never thought a Tuesday could hold any excitement, most exciting things are supposed to happen on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, not some random Tuesday.

It started like any other day. Wake up, throw on some clothes, grab my bag, and hope that I didn’t wake up my roommate. After all that it's just go to class and try to scrape by.

“Hey Carl!”

I jump and look up from my phone to see my friend Jacob walking towards me. 

Now Jacob looks like the textbook definition of confidence. He’s just a bit shorter than me at a height of 5 feet 9 inches, he looks strong without being overly muscular and his outfit leans towards the more casual side, however everything always tends to match somehow.

“Hey man you do the reading?”

I sigh “I skimmed it, however I don’t think I retained much of the information.”

“I feel that. Hey are you going to ask Lilith out after class?”

I shift uncomfortably, and glance down the hall. Asking out a normal person is nerve racking in its own right, however Lilith is a completely different story. If you didn’t know her you would be confused by this statement, if anything she looks unassuming. 5 foot 7, short curly black hair, and almost unhealthily thin. Then you notice her eyes look almost red and always seem to be analyzing anything and everything she looks at, and then you learn that her mom is a Police Chief or something and her dad is a Politician over in Japan, and then it all makes sense.

I've had a number of interactions with her before so it wouldn’t be completely out of the blue, however I was still quite nervous.

I check my phone, “It's almost 1:15, we should get seated.”

I’m having a hard time paying attention to the lecture, “I can do this,” I think to myself “It’s now or never, you got this Carl.”

“Well looks like it’s 2:45, I hope to see all of you on Thursday.”

I quickly pack up my stuff and sling my bag over my shoulder, I scan the room however Lilith has already left. I glance at Jacob and he gives me a thumbs up.

“Screw it,” I say to myself as I hurry out of the room.

I know that she also lives in the dorms on the edge of campus so I hurry that way. As I speed walk towards the dorms I reherce what I’m going to say in my head.

“Hey Lilith I was wondering if you would like to grab lunch some time?” An easy non threatening invitation, “Hope this goes well.”

There are six dorm buildings in total, three on one side and three on the other with the Caff completing the U. The dorms were quite plain buildings, you could tell all the college had thought about was how to make them cheaply and in large quantities. The dorm building both Lilith and I live in is the farthest down on the left side.

I am just about to give up hope when I see her turn the corner near the entrance of our building.

“Hey Lili-” just as I call out I feel a sharp pain shoot through my head. “Ow, what the?” I stumble and almost fall over. I take a minute and collect myself, “Hope no one saw that.” I glance around and don’t see anyone. “All those late nights are catching up with me.”

I turn the corner and yep no Lilith. “Aw screw it I’m going to go up to my room and take a nap.”

I enter the building and pause in the entryway. The decor is different, the walls are covered in about a million different types of paint and wallpaper. Yellow, white, sky blue, tile, mosaic, and so much more my brain could hardly take it all in. Even the solid blue carpet had been replaced, red, black, grey, hardwood, even tile.

“Was this a new event? A new theme? I’ll just ask the person at the front desk.” I walk over and there is no one, no RA on duty, no one to be found. “This is all too weird, I need to go lie down.”

As I climb the stairs to the second floor I pull my denim jacket tighter around myself. “Why is it so darn cold?”

When I reach the second floor and turn to look down the hall I see that the vomit inducing theme has continued on this floor as well, except there is one major addition. Every door has been replaced. I examine each door as I move past it, solid dark wood, metal gate with mesh, orange with simple geometric designs on in, and finally a plain white door.

“This is my door,” not only is it where the door to my dorm once stood but it is also the door to my room back home. “How do they know what the door to my room looks like? This is far too creepy.”

I reach out and try the handle.


	2. The Resident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carl comes face to face with his shadow and two mysterious figures

I grab the door knob and slowly open the door, unsure of what I might find.

“What the hell?” It’s my room, my room from back home.

It is a perfect replica, it has the cracked window from when my dad swatted a fly too hard, my bookshelf filled with all my favorite tales of fantasy, my monitor and gaming consoles set up next to my bed, and my floor covered in random knickknacks from over the years.

I walk over to the shelf and pull one out one of my log books, I open it to find the pages and pages of my writings.

“Hey don’t read that it’s private.”

I jump and spin around to find myself face to face with, myself?

“You can’t read that it’s private.”

I stand in shocked silence, “Who is this? Why do they look exactly like me?” 

My doppelganger is sitting upright on my bed facing me, the only article of clothing he is wearing is the grey sweatpants I wear when going to bed. It had to be a dream or something, right? I mean they have the same patchy facial hair, the same brown hair all swept to the right, they have that small scar on their chin from when I had to have stitches, they even have the stretch marks under their arms I got when going through puberty.

They have one glaring difference however, their eyes are golden, “My eyes are green why are theirs gold?” They weren't just gold they practically glowed as if they were headlights on a car.

“Who are you? Why is my room here?”

The other me yawned and rubbed his eyes, “Why wouldn’t I be in my room? Now if you would excuse me I am quite busy.”

“What? No!” I march forward and grab him by the shoulder. “No tell my wh-”

Suddenly I feel a wave of exhaustion hit me. I drop the book onto the ground and feel my knees give out as I crash to the floor.

“Why am I so tired? It feels like I haven’t slept in months.”

“Why worry about it? It can be done later, yah later.”

#

The next thing I know I’m waking up on the couch in the dorm building's rec room.

“I told you to be more careful when using the navigator!”

“I’m sorry ok! How was I supposed to know he saw me enter!”

I sit up and turn to see where the argument is coming from. Standing next to the pool table is, “Is that Lilith? I mean it sounds like her, but what is she wearing?” 

Her outfit is primarily black with some dark blue here and there. She has a long black cape, black boots, dark blue pants and gloves, and a black vest and hat. “She looks like V for Vendetta, well if V cared about his appearance a bit more.” 

She is also wearing a white masquerade mask with red outlines around her eyes.

Standing on the pool table is what she is arguing with, “Is that a cat?” It looks almost cartoony with that round head and yellow scarf, “What is going on?”

At that point they both realized that I was awake.

“Um, excuse me. Anyone care to explain what is going on?”

The cat leaps off the table and lands next to me on the couch, “Ok look all of this is quite complicated and we don’t even fully understand what the situation is. So I think the best thing to do would be to just help you leave.”

“No! Hold on!” I stand up and back away to face the two of them, “I’m not going anywhere until I get an explanation! Why is everything all patchwork themed? Where is everyone? Why does my room look like that? Wh- GOD I met myself! That doesn't just happen!” I start pacing the room while running my hands through my hair, just trying to get a grip on the situation.

“You met your shadow?!” Lilith excitedly exclaims, “Mona! He might be able to awaken his persona, he could help us!”

I stop dead in my tracks and spin to face her, “My wha? What's a Sha-”

“No! Out of the question! We don’t even know if obtaining a persona from your shadow is possible here!” The cat thing Lilith had called Mona now seems visibly agitated, “Mist, you of all people should know how dangerous it is here, and you want to welcome someone who doesn't even have a persona?!” Mona seems to visibly deflate after that last comment. 

“Look, Carl right? It’s best if you just forget everything you saw here. Come on we'll help you leave.” 

I glance over at Lilith to see what she thinks of all this, she has her arms crossed and is staring off someplace far away. I can tell she is not happy with the outcome but the situation has been decided.

I sigh and follow Mona out of the Rec Room and towards the entryway of the dorm building. As I step through the double doors out of the building, I feel a wave of exhaustion hit me.

“Does this mean I left whatever that place was?” I slowly turn and reenter the building.

“Blue carpet, white walls, random paper posters telling me about god knows what on campus. I’m back, somehow. I am too tired to deal with this anymore.” 

“I'm going to take a nap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Get excited Igor is coming soon!


	3. Contracts and Concepts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carl is approached by Igor and asked if he wishes to form a contract. We also get a glimpse into Carl's academic life.

Sleep is surprisingly difficult, no matter how hard I try my mind just won’t be quiet.

“Screw it! I’m just going to do my math homework instead.” 

#

“Pi… exponents… imaginary numbers…” At this point I can feel my head rocking, as If my body had decided it wasn’t taking no for an answer and was determined to get some sleep.

“I’m just going to… rest a bit.” I lower my head onto my desk while using my arms as a pillow.

#

I wake to the ethereal sounds of a solo piano that is slowly accompanied by a solo female voice. The music lifts and floats through the air as if possessing the ability to calm my very soul. As I fully awake I realize I’m laying down with my back against a cold blue stage.

I sit up to get a proper view of my surroundings. I’m currently center stage of a large ornate theater, dark plain stage, large expensive looking velvet curtains drawn across to hide the backstage area, the chairs in the audience are made of the same luxurious velvet as the curtains.

“Welcome to my Velvet Room. I am Igor the master of this place.”

I turn and spy a strange looking man sitting in the front row with a plain desk in front of him. He looks more like some strange mythical creature than an ordinary man, he has a long sharp nose, wide unblinking eyes, long thin limbs, and a large hump on his back as if he has spent his entire life hunched over.

“This room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Curious isn’t it, the room always takes a shape to match the visitors heart, to think it would appear as such.”

“Now hold on, I don’t know what's happening. I fell asleep in my dorm, is this a dream? Or is it something else? Is this related to that place where I met Lilith?”

“Ah, I see that you are clever, good… good. You are curious about that world yes? I propose that we form a contract. I will give you the ability to return to that world and will continue to help you during this adventure, all I ask in return is that you work to awaken your power and solve the mystery of that other world.”

“I-” I do want to return to that world and confront that other me however one dose not simply make deals with strange men in dreams, especially not after returning from that strange place.

“I see that you are still on the fence. I shall give you time to think it over. If you decide that you want to continue with our contract simply think of this place before you sleep.

He looks down at his table which now has a number of cards on it face down, he proceeds to flip one and chuckles to himself.

“Why yes we will meet again.”

#

“Gwah- huh?” I jerk my head up and look around, the room is dark and I can hear the gentle breathing of my roommate Luis. 

“What time is it?” I think to myself as I pick up my phone to check “4:16! Shit.”

I grab all my stuff and sneak down to the study room on the first floor of the building in order to finish my work.

#

“Hey man you look like shit. Long night?”

“Eh something like that.” I say while stifling a yawn

“I tried to come by and ask how things went with Lilith last night but Luis said that you were passed out at your desk.”

“Oh yeah… I never can seem to stay awake while doing homework for this class.” I look around the classroom, Jacob and I always sit about the dead center of the room so I can easily see everyone.

“Do you think the professor will be late again?”

I sigh “Hopefully, the less time we haft to spend with Dr. Doris the better”

As If right on cue she storms through the door slamming her bag down on her desk. Dr. Doris is a dense old lady, and I mean both meanings of the word. She is small, compact, and refuses to back down when wrong, it isn’t hard to see why she has received the nickname Dr. Brick. I had made the mistake of correcting her early on in the semester and now most of my assignments have gone “missing” or “never turned in.”

The class is boring as usual. It’s always just sit quietly and write down everything on the slides. 

“9:40… 9:55… 10:20… 10:35. Come on almost… 10:45! Yes!”

You can feel the collective sigh spread across the room as everyone starts packing up.

“Yo Carl I’ll see ya for lunch later.”

“Yah I’ll see you then. Have fun in History and say hi to Luis for me.”

I salute Jacob as he turns and leaves the room. Dr. Doris always has us stack our homework on the table at the front of the room and this time I hold back and make sure I get to place my work on the top of the pile. With that done I leave the room and continue to watch the pile from the hallway as discreetly as I can.

Yep sher enofe Dr. Doris walks right up to the pile, grabs mine off the top and throws it in the recycling.

I sigh and head towards my favorite spot on campus in order to get some alone time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! We will see Igor and Dr. Brick again!


	4. The Thinking Tree

There are many trees on campus however I only enjoy sitting under one in particular, it is a perfect tree as far as I'm concerned. Far enough away for the usual foot traffic to be relatively quiet, too far apart from other trees for the hammock club to use it, and large enough to provide ample shade, it’s perfect.

I always go to this spot whenever I want some alone time away from everyone else. I plop down, put in my earbuds, pull out my journal, and start to write. Writing in my journal always seems to put problems in perspective, as if the simple act of seeing it all laid out before me and firmly recording it in my history gives it less power over me.

“Lilith… my gold eyed twin… that weird building… the Velvet Room,” FWOOMP! “Ahg!”

I jump and turn to my right and find myself face to face with a cat, The cat is mostly black with white fur on its paws and muzzle. 

“Hey buddy you startled me, were you in the tree this whole time?” The cat looks back at me and starts pawing at my jornal, “What am I writing about? Well I’ll let you in on a little secret I had a weird dream where some creature named Igor wanted to make a contract with me.” 

As I peer down at my little visiter I see a mixture of shock and recognition on his face. 

“Did you just... ?”

“You met Igor!” The cat yelled.

“You can talk? Wait how is that possible? You're just a cat.”

“I’m not a cat! My name is Morgana! Now let me get this straight you met Igor and he offered you a contract?”

“Well… yeah I fell asleep last night and had a dream about being in a theater and having a conversation with someone named Igor. Wait why do you care? And why am I even talking to you? I’m probably going crazy.”

“Listen you aren't crazy, and you need to accept Igor’s invitation, the fact that he reached out to you specifically means that you are special and that something bad is happening that we will need your help with.”

I take off my glasses and rub the bridge of my nose. “Look Morgana, I have enough trouble as it is keeping up in class. Why would I take on another thing?”

Morgana pauses as if mulling over whether or not to answer my questions. “Have you ever been screwed over by those in power? Or wished to be able to effect change in the world?”

“I mean sher, who hasn't?”

“Exactly! Ok I'll give you time to think it over, give Igor your response tonight.”

With that Morgana rushes off towards the heart of campus with pep in his step.

“What the hell?” I pick up my long forgotten journal and phone and check the time. “Shit!” It is time to meet with Jacob. I quickly grab my bag and start heading towards the main cafeteria.

#

“Sorry to make you wait”

“Hey it’s no problem man. Lost track of time?”

“Yah I was… yah lost track of the time.” I decide to hold off on telling Jacob about Morgana because I’m pretty sure I'de just sound like a crazy person. I let my eyes wander the room, Jacob and I always eat a bit early to avoid most of the crowd however today was especially busy for some reason. Everyone moving to and fro getting food, putting away dirty dishes, and just movement for the sake of movement. Jacob and I always sit at one of the window tables not only for the view but also for the separation from the foot traffic.

“Hey are you ok Carl?”

“Huh what?” I snap back to reality realizing I've not been paying attention.

“You've been out of it lately, constantly zoning out and getting lost in thought. What's on your mind?”

“I… Do you ever wish you could, I don’t know, effect change in the world?”

“I mean sher... who doesn't want to help make the world a better place? Why?”

“Oh, I guess I’ve just been having an existential crisis of sorts, I mean it just sorta feels like nothing you ever do matters, at least not in any meaningful way. You know what I mean?”

At this Jacob lets out a sigh and leans back in his chair. “Is this about Dr. Brick? I’m telling you just go to the department head about this.”

“And as I’ve said before nothing will happen, nothing ever happens.”

At that we drop the topic and just chatted about normal things like girls, grades, and video games. All the while my mind spins like a top about Igor’s offer.


	5. A Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carl hangs with his friends and makes a choice.

We spend the rest of the day as friends do, just hanging around and talking about nothing. I mean we talk about something but honestly I’m not paying attention. We walk around campus for a while and after having dinner in the Caff we return to my dorm to hang with Luis and just kind of hunker down for the night. 

My room is on the second floor so after going up the stairs we head for my door. As we reach it I can hear the muffled sound of music emanating from inside, I take out my key and open the door and step inside.

Immediately the sound of some random Beatles song gets louder, as we enter I toss my stuff on my desk and glance over to see my roommate sitting at his desk with his eyes closed just mouthing along to the lyrics. Luis is an odd flower, he always seems to be wearing something vintage or vintage inspired, and well he is quite reserved, by that I mean he is quiet around new/unfamiliar people but a bit more talkative around his friends.

“Hey man,” Jacob gives him a curt nod as he closes the door behind him.

“Oh, hey,” Luis leans over and turns off the small record player he had going, “How’s it going?”

“Good good, Carl and I were just talking about how random it is that they number all the trees here on campus. I mean other than knowing what order they were planted in what use could it be?”

At this point I’ve settled into my desk, “Well isn’t there a like botany class or something? I mean I’ve seen them interacting with some of the bushes around wouldn’t it make sense for them to study the trees as well?”

“So you think the numbers are for that as well?”

“Heck if I know, it’s just a guess.”

Jacob takes off his backpack and sits on the floor, “Oh yeah we never got around to it, how did it go with Lilith?”

“Oh! Um… well, she left class before me and I lost track of her so I didn’t get the opportunity.”

Jacob gives me a look which tells me that he doesn't believe me. “Well it’s not like that was your last shot or anything so you’ll get it next time.”

“Yah of course.” 

A sudden knocking at the door makes all of us jump. I share a worried look with my friends as I fumble with my phone. As I get out of my chair and walk towards the door I feel my pulse quicken. “Please don’t be them. We were being so quiet please.” I open the door to see that my fear is confirmed, yep it’s Jane.

Jane is a couple years my senior and quite a bit shorter than myself, she always seems to be wearing some sort of shirt sporting the college’s logo and color with her lanyard of keys hanging around her neck, her hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she is adopting that fake smile that always reminds me of a jaguar toying with its prey.

“Hey guys it’s past ten so that means it’s now quiet hours. Now I’ve given you all a number of warnings already so if I catch you again I’ll have to give you a mark. Now I don’t want to do that so make sure to keep it down moving forward. Alright have a good night.”

After giving me a small wave she turns and starts walking back down the hall. I close the door as quietly as possible and slump back into my chair.

Jacob is the first to speak up, “I’m so tired of her bullshit. I mean we may not be the quietest people on the floor, but we are far from the loudest. She always walks right past Mr. Blast Music Magee two doors down and ignores the Gal Pal room at the end of the hall just to tell us to be quiet!?” 

Luis shakes his head, “Well she is friends with doth of those rooms so of course she isn’t going to do anything. So she has to mess with us to seem like she is doing her job.”

I rub my face, “Yah well we can’t do anything except comply, I don’t want to get anything put on my record. Sorry Jacob but I’ma haft to ask you to leave for tonight.”

“No I get it.” Jacob gets up off the floor and picks up his bag. “I'll see you guys tomorrow.”

“See ya, say hi to Emm for me.”

“Will do, Luis. Good night.”

With the click of the door I sigh and consider taking out some homework I have to do. No I’m not in a good headspace I decide as I feel my hands shake. “Why are people like that?” Morgan’s words run through my mind, “Have you ever been screwed over by those in power? Or wished to be able to effect change in the world?” “Should I try to contact the strange man in my dream? I mean if it was only a dream there is no harm in it, but if it was real maybe I can finally do something for once in my life.”

After sitting and just kinda half heartedly scrolling through my laptop, I decide to head to bed and see what Igor’s deal is all about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry for the long gaps, I can't promise a consistent upload schedule however I don't want to abandon this story.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thanks for reading! I will do my best to be consistent. I hope the story that has been bouncing around in my head for a wile was entertaining.


End file.
